Digital Lifestyle Hardware: Digital Rules, Analog Drools 180 · iMovie compatibility. Compatibility with iMovie should be the most important factor that you consider when you choose a DV camera. What does iMovie compatibility mean? Basically, it means that you have the easiest time and get the best results using that camera with iMovie. This is because you can control the camera from within iMovie, which makes transferring clips from the camera into iMovie a snap. Apple maintains a list of iMovie-compatible DV cameras on the iMovie Web page. To see this list, go to www.apple.com/imovie/compatibility.html. You will have the best results if the camera that you choose is on this list. Format. Many video camera formats are available. The good news is that you need to consider only two formats: Digital8 and MiniDV. The difference between them is (as you probably sur- mised) size. Digital8 cameras use a digital tape that is the same physical size as an 8mm tape. MiniDV tapes are considerably smaller, and MiniDV cameras tend to be considerably smaller, as well. Because of the size benefits and the fact that MiniDV has become the standard for DV camcorders, I recommend that you consider only cameras that use the MiniDV format. However, if you already use an 8mm video camera and have lots of 8mm tapes, a Digital8 camera can be a good choice because you can use those tapes in the Digital8 camera. Cost. How much you have to pay for a camera is likely to be one of the first things that you think about. And it might indeed be the most important factor of all. To find out how much specific models cost, make a note of some of the models you see on the supported camera's list. Go to your favorite retail Web site--such as www.smalldog.com--and search for the models that you noted to see how much they cost. Size, shape, and comfort. How often you shoot video with a camera is usually a matter of how convenient it is to carry and use. Fortunately, MiniDV cameras are very small; in fact, a few are almost pocket-size! Make sure that the camera you get is small enough that you're willing to · · ·